Smart has known Saban for a long time, and they worked together for years, most recently when Smart was Alabama's defensive coordinator from 2008 to 2015, before taking over with the Bulldogs.

It would be easy to think Smart has an advantage against Saban in the championship game - a slight edge or a best-kept secret about how to win after working with someone so good at it for more than a decade.

"I don't know that it's an advantage. You know, his tendencies and his strengths are recruiting really good players that are really big and really fast, and then you have to block them, okay, or you have to be able to run the ball against them or you have to be able to defend the wide-outs and the corner - it comes down to a lot more than his tendencies because his tendencies are very similar to a lot of good coaches: Smart, good decisions, protect the ball, play great defense, kick your butt on special teams. There's not a lot of tendencies that he has that are just going to be ground-breaking to allow us a benefit. The bottom line is our players got to go out and we've got to play a really good football game to stay with these guys."

But Saban also praised Smart's coaching abilities, saying he did a "fabulous job" when they worked together. And now, Smart has a chance to do something no former Saban assistant ever has if his team can take down the Crimson Tide.